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Dark. Everything is so . . . dark.
This place it almost feels — familiar? I've been here before. But no, I'm not here right now.
But then where am I?
Because right now, I stare at the edge of the forest, a raven, with the blackest of eyes, stares right into my own.
Except, the raven doesn't stare into my own eyes.
Because I don't have any. Just empty, sad, pits of ebony where my eyes used to stay.
Blood drops from my nose and sockets, as well as every inch of my body, but it feels more real in my eyes.
I try to shake my head. This can't be real. The birds are dead. I saw them. Dead.
But here I stand, in the face of my enemy.
A flock of birds.
The bird looks at me, before taking a spot on my right shoulder.
"What do you want with me?" I ask, a slight whimper in my tone.
The bird stares.
Come on Torrance, it's a bird. They can't speak.
Well, most birds can. Because this one began to.
"It's not you that we want. It's what you have."
What I have? What could I possibly have that every raven in the area would want to kill me over?
Soon, the sky wasn't as dark as it was. Not the ebony dark that had consumed me the night before. The bird croaked before joining the rest of its flock in the woods. The sunrise began to come over the horizon, revealing the inside of the forest.
I was tired. And suddenly, I wasn't standing anymore. I was on my back. But it wasn't uncomfortable, it was nice, as if I was in my bed again.
And then I heard her voice.
"Torrance? Torrance my dear, are you awake now?"
And suddenly, my eyes were back. And I wasn't staring up at the great big sky, but the ceiling of the hogwarts infirmary. Nurse Wainscott looks down at me, her hand resting on my arm to shake me. Next to her are the only two who I could expect to be waiting for me to wake.
Opal Loughty rests in the chair next to my cot, while Ivy shakes her awake. Ivy quickly grabs and embraces me. My body tenses and my jaw clenches. Ivy loosens her grip on me. "I'm sorry."
I smile at her, then turn to Wainscott, "how long have I been asleep?"
"Almost two full days. You lost a lot of blood."
My head flips back onto my pillow, the events of that night flashing back into my head.
Nurse Wainscott looks to me, then to my friends, "I'm sorry girls, but Professor Black wants to see Torrance immediately. You girls head back to the dorms."
They hesitantly exchange their goodbyes, leaving the infirmary, with Professor Black coming inside.
Wainscott looks to him, exchanging glances before pulling a curtain and leaving just the two of us alone. "Hello, Torrance."
I cringe. Professor Black usually doesn't pay attention to the students unless they're in trouble. I've tried to stay out of trouble my entire stay here. But now, I have to experience the Black repercussions.
"What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?" I feel stupid having to answer, "I was meeting someone."
"Who?"
I sit silent for a minute, turning my head to look into the corner, avoiding any eye contact. "A boy. Louis Krane."
He leans back into his seat, taking in the information. I'm confused. I figured he would have known.
"He told you to meet him there?"
"Yes."
He stands up and straightens his jacket, "thank you."
He gets up to leave, before quickly turning around, "your actions resulted in serious injuries to yourself, and could have led to the harm of your peers. 30 points from Ravenclaw."
He leaves.
Nurse Wainscott returns, this time with a cup of tea. "Your friends told me you like it with honey."
I smile gratefully and take the cup. "You should be able to return to your dorm later tonight," she turns and grabs my cloak, setting it at the end of my bed. She takes a seat in the chair Professor Black had just previously been sitting in, "I want you to know how much worse this could have been. If your friends hadn't reported you going missing... you might not be lying here."
I nod, "it won't happen again. I promise."
"Don't promise me anything."
She gets up and leaves.
I straighten up and stare back at the ceiling.
Tomorrow will be the worst day of my life.
authors note.
haha so I haven't actually posted in almost a year... but I'm back! for a bit. i have NO CLUE if i will be regularly updating or if it will be sporadic posting.
i've been super busy with school, sports, work, friends & famil, etc, so I haven't been on the app but I keep coming back, so I hope to post more often than once a year.
this chapter is super short but it's because i have plans for the next chapter that don't fit into this one. anyways,
